Allocating Wood-Processing Residues Between Material and Bioenergy Uses: A Sequential Decision Framework

Wood-processing residues can support both circular material use and bioenergy, but gross residue generation is not equivalent to additional energy availability. This review develops a literature-derived sequential framework for allocating four major fractions generated during primary mechanical wood processing—wood chips, solid offcuts, sawdust and shavings, and bark—among material uses, pellets and briquettes, industrial heat, and combined heat and power (CHP). A structured qualitative synthesis identified five decision criteria: feedstock quality and admissibility; retained material value; realistic material-use opportunity; suitability for a specific bioenergy pathway; and relevance to a fuel market or plant energy demand. The framework was applied illustratively to Polish data reporting 7.928 million m3 of residues and approximately 36.37 petajoules (PJ) of gross energy content. Results show that solid offcuts retain the strongest geometric value, chips face competition for fibre, sawdust and shavings can support both material and densified-fuel pathways, and bark combines specialised material opportunities with broader heat potential. Industrial heat has the broadest conditional suitability, whereas CHP is the most scale-dependent. The framework distinguishes technical feasibility from realistic availability and provides a screening step before detailed techno-economic, life-cycle, spatial, or optimisation analysis.